Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-11-26


straint. You discover what terrible pow,
for evil unsanctificd genius possesses whe
you see scaliger with his scathing denuncii
tions assaulting tho best men of nis tim
and BlOunt and Spineza and Bolinsbrol
leading their hozts OF followers into tt
all consuming fires OF sSepticisln and inf
deity. Whether knowledge is might
good or an unmitigated evil depends upo
which course it takes The river rolling O
between round banks makes oil the vale
laugh with golden wheat and rank grass, an
catching hold tho wheel of mill and factory
whirls it with great industries. But, break
ing away from restraints and dashing owe
banks in rcd wrath, it washes away harvest
from their moorings and makes tho valley
shrink with tho catastrophe Fire in the fur
nace heats the house or drives tho steamer
but, uncontrolled, warehouses 60 down i,
awful crash before it, and in few hours hal
city will lie in black ruin, walls and tower
md churches and monuments. You mus
accompany the education of the intcllec
with tho education of the heart, OF you ar
rousing up within your child an energy which
will be: blasting and terrific. Better wicked
Ounce than wicked philosopher.
Tho fourth error often committed in TIL
training Of children is the suppression Of
childish sportfulness. Tho most triumphnn1
death of any child that ever knew was that
of Scovillc Haynes McCollum. A few day:
before that he was at my house in Syracuse
and he ran like deer and his halloo made
the woods echo. You could hear him coming
block off, so full was he of romp and laugh
2 ter and whistle. Don't put religion on your
child as straight jacket Parents after
having for good many years been jostlcd
about in tho rough world, often lose their vi
vacity and are aStonishcd to SEQ how their
children can act so thouShtlessly of the car
nest world oil about them. That is cruel
parent who qucncheS any Of the light in q
child's SOUL Instead of arresting its sport
fulness, go forth and help him trundle the
hoop, and fly tho kite and build tho snow
castle. Those shoulders are too littlo to
carry burden, TINT brow IS too young to DO
wrinliled, those feet are to- sprightly to go
along Mt u funeral pace. God bless their
young hcartsl Now is the time for. them to
be sportful. Let them romp and sing and
laugh, and so with rush and hurah. In
this way thcy gather up g surplus Of energy
for future life. For the child that walks
around with scowl, dragging his feet us
though they wero weights and sitting down
by the hour in moping and grumbling, 1
prophesy life Of utter inanition and discon-
tent. Sooner hush tho robins in the DIR till
they are silent es q | and lecture the fris1-
ing lambs on the hills until they walk like
old sheep, rather than. t exhilarant child
hood in the stocks.
Tho fifth error in the training of childhood
IS the postponemcnt of its moral culture IN
til too late. Multitutfes of children, because
OF their precocity, hive been urged into
depths of studs where they ought not to go,
and their inteliecrs nave been overbludencd
and ovcrstrained and battered to pieces
against Latin grammars and algebras. and
coming forth into practical life they will
hardly rise to mediocrity, and there is now a
stufling and examining system Of education
in the schools of our country that is dreadful
to the teachers who have to eulorce it and de-
structive to the children who must submit to
tho process. You find children at and 10
years of age with school lessons only nppro-
pirate for children of 49, If children arc
,,al,. -,~--,-Id IND resi- OF THO day
oueaslaJ 9uP dGeSoted to recreation and pure
fun But you cannot begin too carly the
moral culture of a child or on too complete
scale. lou can look back upon your own life
and remember what mighty impressions were
made upon you at or & years Of age Ok, that
child does not sit so silent during your con-
to be unin1uenced by it. You say
be does not understand. Although much of
your phraseoloSy Is beyond his grasp, be Is
gathering up from your talk influences which
will affect his immortal destiny. From the
question he aslls you long ofterward you find
he understood al about what you wcre say
ing. You think the child does not appreciate
that beautiful cloud, but its most delicate
lines are reflected into the very depths of the
Youthful natuIa, and n score Of years from
now YOU will SCI the shadow Of that cloud in
the tastes and rrfiriements developed. Tho
song with which you sing that child to sleep
will echo through all its life, and ring back
from tho very arches Of heaven. think that
often the first seven years of a child's life de-
cidcs whether IL shall be irascible, waspish,
rude, false, hypocritical, or gentle, truthful,
frank, obedicnt, honest and Christian. The
present generations of men will pass off very
much as they are now. Although The
gospel is offered them, the general rule is
that drunkarls die drunllards, thieves die
thieves, l;bcrtines die ibcrtines Therefore,
to the youth we turn. Before they sow wild
oats get them to SOW wheat and hurley. You
fill the bushcl measure with good corn, and
there will be 10 room for huskS. Glorious
Alfred Goodman was converted ut 10 years
OF age At Carlisle, Pa, during the progress
of a religious meeting in tho Methodist
church, while many wcro lneelins ut the foot
of the altar, this boy knelt in corner of the
church all by himself, and said: "Precious
Savior, thou art saving others; 0 wilt thou
not save NOR A Presbyterian cider knelt
beside him and led him into tue light. Eli
throned Alfred Goldman! Tell ME from the
skies, were you converted too early! But
cannot hear his answer. 1t is overpowercd
by the huzzas of the tens of thousands who
were brought to God through his ministry.
Isaac Watts, tho great Christian poet, was
converted ut years of age. Robert Hall,
the great Baptist evangelist, was converted
ct 12 years of age. Jonathan Edwards, the
greatest of American logicians, wns convert
ed Mt years Of age.
Oh, for one generation of holy men and
womcnl Shall it be the nextl Fathers and
mothers, you under God are tn decide wheth-
cr from your families shall 60 forth towards
inebriatcs, counterfeiters, blasphemers, aud
whether there shall be those bearing your
image and carrying your nnmc fostering in
the low hnunts of vice, and laundering Ill
dissipation, and making the midnight of
their lives horrid with long howl Of ruin,
or whether from your family oltars shall
come the Christians, the rcformcrs, the
teachers, the ministers of Christ, the COM
forters of the troubled, the hcalers OF the
sick. the enactcrs of ood laws, the founders
of charitable institutions, and great many
who shall in the humber spheres of toll and
usefulness serve God and the best interests OF
the human race.
You cannot as parents shirk the response
bility. God has charged you with mission,
and all the thrones of heaven are waiting to
- ~.l,o+I,o- ,-ou 5J0 1-o,r,. fl,,t,r tGn